


The Dog Days of Summer

by ShibaScarf



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Eventual relationship, I LIKE DOGS AND I LIKE BOOSTLE, M/M, i put them together, this is a dumb story about a dumb dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-29
Packaged: 2018-04-08 06:33:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4294389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShibaScarf/pseuds/ShibaScarf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Booster adopts a stray dog.  Ted is both perplexed and irritated, but mostly just jealous at all the attention it gets Booster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

**Author's Note:**

> 75% comprised of some tumblr convos with irlboostergold  
> dead dove, do not eat

There were many things Ted expected to find in Booster’s room after receiving a frantic text message at two in the morning.  The fall-out from a prank gone wrong, for example, or even a disheveled and torn suit that needed another one of Ted’s patented Late-Night Microcircuit Repair Jobs.  This, however, was not an expected outcome.

“What is that?” Ted said finally, after standing in Booster’s doorway for a few moments.

“You know what it is,” Booster said in a strained voice.  “Please get it off of me.”

Instead, Ted took out his phone and took a picture.

Booster glared at him, which was more adorable than threatening, especially considering that he was currently pinned on his bed beneath a large, shaggy, and dirty dog that looked incredibly happy.  Ted finished posting the picture to facebook and stepped closer, holding one hand out for the dog to sniff.  It did so, tail wagging fiercely.

“I can’t imagine you need me to pull a fifty pound dog off of your chest,” Ted observed.  “I mean, I know you rely on your gadgets to fight crime, but you’re not that pathetic.”

“Everytime I try to get up, he licks me on the face.” Booster grumbled.  “It’s disgusting.”

“Which then begs the question,” Ted said, reaching out and scratching behind the dog’s ears, “how did he get into your room and on your bed in the first place?”

“He followed me home,” Booster said miserably.

Ted sat down on the edge of the bed and gently pulled the dog off of Booster, who thankfully sat up- only to have the dog flop lovingly into his lap.  Booster reluctantly gave the dog a few pats on the head and was rewarded with a slobbery dog kiss.

“Was that a joke,” Ted asked, “or did this dog legitimately leap out of a sitcom and into your life?”

“I found him in an alley,” Booster explained, wiping his face irritably.  “Some kids were throwing rocks at him.”  Ted made an appropriately angry sound and reached out to give some solid belly rubs to the dog.  He was also rewarded with slobbery dog kisses that smelled suspiciously like…

“Did you give him a hamburger?” Ted asked.  “This dog’s breath smells like hamburger.”

“Well, he just kept following me after I helped him,” Booster said defensively.  “I don’t know how dogs work.  I figured he was just hungry.  He just kept… looking at me.  Like that,” he said, pointing as the dog turned back to gaze at him in what Ted could only assume was the most canine look of adoration.

“That was the worst thing you could do,” Ted sighed.  “Now he’ll never leave.”

Booster groaned and then had to push the dog away from his face as it struggled to console him.

“We don’t do pets in the future,” Booster grumbled.  “Not real ones.  And virtual pets don’t need food.”

“What, Skeets isn’t a pet?” Ted asked, returning to belly rubs.  The dog was pretty cute, in a grubby kind of way.  Booster puffed up indignantly.

“Skeets is a valued companion and trustworthy friend,” he said, clearly very offended.  “Skeets is not a ‘pet’.  I don’t do pets.”

“I hate to break it to you,” Ted said, “but bringing a dog into the apartment, feeding it, and letting it hop on the furniture means we have a pet now.”  Booster sulked.  “Listen,” Ted said kindly.  “Do you really want to take this guy to some animal shelter after this?  Look at him.”

Booster reluctantly studied the dog, which was now happily panting, eyes closed in bliss from receiving belly rubs.  He reached out and scratched the dog under its chin.

“No,” he said quietly.  “I guess not.  I mean, he chose me.  But,” he said, sharply looking back at Ted, “he needs to be cleaned up.  And we’ll have to buy more hamburger meat.”

“We  _will_ have to buy more ground beef,” Ted said, “but not for the dog.  We’ll go the the pet store tomorrow and get some proper dog food.  He shouldn’t be eating people food.  He’ll get sick.”

The dog wagged his tail.

“Does our apartment even allow pets?” Booster asked, bringing up a good point that Ted was far too tired to address.

“We’ll figure this all out in the morning,” he grumbled, standing up and heading back to his room.  “Try not to poison the dog in the meantime.”

“Har har,” Booster called after him.

It wasn’t that Ted disliked rooming with Booster, he mused to himself as he walked down the hall to his own room.  It was just that it was so unpredictable.  It had been two months, but he had still not quite adjusted to Booster’s demanding dietary habits, his insistence on cleanliness, and the strange mannerisms that came along with being from the future.  He had quickly learned to keep his food separate from Booster’s bland stock of tofu and rice-based products, but there were other, weirder behaviors that he was still afraid to ask about.  The way Booster insisted on washing his clothes in the tub and then hanging them to dry, for instance, or the fifty sealed bottles of water that Ted once found tucked away in Booster’s closet.  There were rules in their friendship, and one of them dictated that Ted was not to ask about what the future was like.  Frankly, the more he got to know Booster, the more afraid he was to ask.

Arriving in his room, Ted shrugged off his bathrobe and left it in a crumpled pile on the floor.  He crawled back into bed and buried his face in his pillow.  He fell asleep to thoughts about potential names for the dog and ended up having a nightmare that puppies had appeared all over the house like multiplying Tribbles.

————

Booster was, predictably, absolutely no help at the petstore.

Ted found him in the pet food aisle after dropping the still unnamed pooch at the groomer’s in the back.  He was staring numbly at the tins of wet food and held one in each hand.

“Need some help?” Ted asked, gently taking the cans and putting them back on the shelf.   “I mean, for starters, you’re looking at cat food.”

“There are so many options,” Booster said, turning to look at Ted with wide eyes.  “How do we know what to get him?  Which one is the best?   What if he has allergies or something?  I don’t know how old he even is, or if he has any kind of pre-existing medical conditions!”

“Wow, okay,” Ted said slowly.  “Um, we just pick out something that looks good, I guess.  I don’t know that you can definitively say that any of the brands is ‘the best’, so don’t worry about that.  And we can take him to a vet and get him all checked up for diseases, but that’s not going to factor into our choices right now.”

“We’re responsible for a living creature,” Booster moaned, burying his face in his hands.  “Ted, it’s  _us_.  We’re going to kill this dog.”

“We’re not going to kill the dog,” Ted snapped.  “Have a little faith in me.  I know how to take care of a dog.  I had plenty of dogs as a kid.”  He hoisted a bag of kibble into the shopping cart and continued down the aisle to find some treats.  “Look, it’s really not that hard, Booster.  All you have to do is take it for walks and make sure that you keep the food and water bowls full.  That’s it.”

“Are those pieces too small for him?” Booster asked, coming up to the cart and inspecting Ted’s choice.  “What if he chokes?”

“Booster,” Ted said, coming to a stop again.  “You do realize this is a dog and not a baby, right?”

The guilty look on Booster’s face told him that Booster knew approximately jack-shit about the difference between a large, shaggy, stray dog and a baby.

“Relax,” Ted said, softening and patting Booster reassuringly on the shoulder.  “We can handle this, buddy.  It’ll probably be fun.  Good practice for you, too.  God help the future mother of your children if you’re gonna be like this about just a dog.”  Booster rolled his eyes and then proceeded to spend the next fifteen minutes choosing a brand of dog treats.

——————–

Two shopping carts full of dog supplies later, the two of them wheeled their way over to pick up the dog.  The groomer brought him out proudly, and Ted was surprised to find that the stray actually cleaned up pretty well.  His fur, once cleaned, was actually a golden-brown color and leaned more on the glossy side than shaggy.  His breed was still a complete mystery, but his square jaw and soft ears pointed towards some sort of pit/retriever mix.  Booster actually knelt down excitedly to ruffle the dog’s ears and receive dog kisses.

“He was better behaved than I expected, for a stray,” the groomer chirped.  She was pretty cute, Ted noted appreciatively, with bright red hair pulled into a messy bun and a spray of freckles across her nose.  Not a bad body, either.  Booster swelled with pride at the compliment, as though he had anything to do with his dog’s personality whatsoever.  “Picked out a name yet?  We have machines for making dog tags up by the cash registers.”

Booster surprised Ted with an answer.

“Toto,” he said, with that patented Booster Gold grin.

“Toto was a tiny black dog,” Ted said, frowning.

“Toto,” Booster said again, firmly.  The groomer smiled back.

“I think it’s a cute name,” she said.  She patted the dog- Toto, now- on the back and handed Booster a business card.  “My hours are on here, if you ever want to bring him back in.”  Booster held up the card to look at it, and Ted saw that she had scrawled her phone number and “call me” on the back.  

“Thanks,” Booster said, slipping the card into his pocket.  

—–

“You should call her,” Ted said, on the way back to the apartment.

“Who?” Booster asked, not looking up from fiddling with the tag he was trying to attach to Toto’s collar.

“The groomer,” Ted said.  “She slipped you her number.  Didn’t you notice?”

“Not really,” Booster said, with a shrug.  “She’s not really my type, anyway.”

“Not your type,” Ted repeated.  “What,  cute, sexy, and gorgeous with a side of great personality doesn’t do it for you?”

“I’m not really looking to date anybody right now,” Booster said.  He continued to mess with the collar.  “Too much of a hassle.”

“Right,” Ted said dryly.  “I mean, you do have the dog to worry about now.”

“Exactly,” Booster agreed.  

Which was, of course, when Toto decided to press his cold, wet, dog nose against the back of Ted’s neck and very nearly cause a car accident.

Ted was beginning to think that Toto was going to be more trouble than he was worth.

 


	2. Dog in the Manger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long! I had to put some thought into where this was going.

Booster loved that dog.

He spent about the first week frantically doing internet research and panicking at the slightest sign of trouble.  It took Ted an hour to talk Booster out of dragging Toto to the vet after eating a mini-twix bar he found in Ted’s room.  Thankfully, after that initial wave of hysteria passed, Booster seemed to calm down and start acting like a normal dog owner.  Mostly.  At least to the extent that Ted was no longer being shaken awake at odd times of the night.

Booster became what Ted had sometimes heard referred to as a “helicopter parent”.  It was equal parts amusing and irritating.

Toto had several sweaters for when he needed to go for a walk in the chilly evening air.  He had a raincoat and little rain boots for bad weather walks.  He had grooming appointments several times a month, received meticulous brushings every other night, and was given a raw egg with his kibble on Sunday nights because Booster claimed it was “good for his coat”.

Toto also had a dog bed that was custom ordered online to be his size and was shaped like a canopy bed.  Ted was especially bitter about this one because Booster had needed his help to assemble it, when they both knew full well that Toto barely even touched the damn thing and preferred to nap on Ted’s bed.  He wasn’t allowed on Ted’s bed, and Ted admittedly couldn’t prove that Toto was sleeping in there aside from some suspicious presence of golden fur on his comforter.  Toto wasn’t just disobedient; he was devious.

It was hard to be mad at the dog, because he made Booster ridiculously happy.  Not that Booster had been depressed, per se.  Maybe a bit mopey.  Now, however, he was always taking pictures of Toto and sharing them or wheedling Ted into joining him on his trips to the dog park.  This, actually, was win/win for Ted because it got him out of the house on a regular basis, and he was actually starting to lose a bit of weight from all the daily dog-walks.

There was really only one problem with Toto, as Ted tried to explain to Babs one night over dinner at her place.

“So, let me get this straight,” Barbara said, arching one brow and taking a sip of her red wine.  “Booster brings a dog home from an alley, keeps it and thereby adds to your rent when the old price was already one that you  complained about before, completely rearranges your schedule with the JLI because you now have to worry about making it home every day to feed and walk the dog.... And this is what you’re complaining about?  The fact that Booster keeps getting numbers from women?”

Ted sputtered a bit and struggled to swallow his mouthful of steak.

“He also sleeps on my bed,” Ted said indignantly.  “And chewed the crotch out of five pairs of my underwear.”

“Which you left on the floor, so it’s your own damn fault,” Babs said, rolling her eyes.  “Ted, how many numbers is Booster getting, exactly?”

“A lot,” Ted protested.  “A couple a week, at least.  He keeps meeting all these women at the dog park or the groomers.  Some of them he even meets at the pet store.  It’s got to be because of the dog.  I don’t know...  They see him with that big mutt on a leash and magically think he’ll be a good father or husband or something.”

“Does he call any of them?” Babs asked, swirling her glass of wine pensively.  “Has he been out on any dates?”  Ted shook his head.  “So what exactly is your issue, Ted?  The problem isn’t that Booster’s getting these numbers.”

“That’s.... explicitly what I said the problem was,” Ted said, squinting at Babs suspiciously.  “Are you about to get all psycho-analytical on me? I hate when one of you Bats gets all psycho-analytical.”

“We only do it to feel some semblance of control over our own torrid emotional lives,” Babs said dryly.  “But look, Ted.  Booster’s not getting any action, so you can’t be jealous of that.  Listen.  When was the last time you went on a date or got a girl’s number?  You’re single right  now, aren’t you?”

“I’m sharing an apartment with Booster,” Ted groaned.  “I’m as single as it gets.” He shoved another piece of steak into his mouth.

“Then I have two questions for you,” Babs sighed, digging into her salad.  “Who are you? And what have you done with Ted Kord?”

Ted stared at her in bewilderment.

“When have you ever passed up a scheme to pick up women?” Barbara pointed out, licking the dressing off of her fork.  “Did it seriously not occur to you that you could just ask Booster if you could take the dog for a walk by yourself?”

Ted slumped in his chair, eyes wide.

“No,” he said, in surprise.  “You’re right.  What the hell is wrong with me?”  

Babs shook her head and made soft ‘tsk tsk’ sounds.

“If you ask me,” she said, “I think it’s because you don’t really want some random woman’s number.  You’ve got your heart set on someone specific.”

“I have no idea who,” Ted said, chewing thoughtfully.  “Not like I’ve met anyone recently who swept me off my feet.”

“Yes, well,” Babs said mischievously. “These things do tend to be hiding right under our noses.”  Ted recognized the glint in her eye immediately.

“You know who it is,” he accused.  “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

She winked.

\---------------------------

As he came in through the front door to the apartment, Ted could hear the dim sounds of television from the living room and surmised that Booster had fallen asleep on the couch again.  He toed his shoes off, pulled off his jacket, stretched, and then wandered in to say hello.

Booster was not, in fact, asleep, though he was sprawled out on the sofa.  Pressed against his side was Toto, who wasn’t technically allowed on the furniture.  This confirmed Ted’s suspicion that Booster threw those rules out when Ted wasn’t home.  Booster didn’t look even the slightest bit sorry.  In fact, his eyes lit up the moment Ted walked into the room.

“Take a picture,” he hissed.  “Please?  He fell asleep spooning me; it’s the cutest thing in the world.”

Ted took out his phone with exaggerated weariness and took the picture for Booster.  It was pretty cute, though he would never have admitted it to Booster.

He flopped down on the couch, waking up Toto with the motion (pointedly ignoring Booster’s disappointed sounds as Toto dutifully hopped off the furniture), and used the remote to switch the channel to some old reruns of  _Cheers_.

“How was Babs?” Booster asked, rearranging to better accommodate Ted on the couch.  

“Good.  Kicked my ass at _Dominion_.  She thinks I have the hots for someone, but she won’t tell me who,” Ted grumbled.  He hating losing at board games, but at least it was to a worthy opponent tonight.

“Why would you need her to tell you?” Booster asked, snorting.  “I mean, do you?”

“Do I what?”

“Have the hots for someone,” Booster said, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Ted grunted noncommittally.  The laugh track from the television filled the empty silence.

“Well,” Booster said, getting up with a yawn, “I’m going to hit the hay.  See you tomorrow, Ted.”

“Night, Booster,” he replied, but his mind was miles away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Dog in the Manger" means someone who hoards something they don't need. Kinda like Booster and women's numbers. haha.


	3. In the Doghouse

Ted was still puzzling over Barbara’s suggestion at breakfast the next morning.  He sat at the table, chewing on a pen cap and staring down at at the notepad in front of him.  Toto lay under the table, hoping that any stray crumbs from Ted’s breakfast might find their way to him.

“Morning,” Booster said blearily, wandering into the kitchen and blindly pouring himself a cup of the coffee that Ted had left out on the counter.  Ted grunted in response, and Booster shortly joined him at the table with a bowl of cereal and soy-milk.

“What’s that?” Booster asked, pointing with his spoon to Ted’s pad of paper.  “Doesn’t look like schematics.”

“I’m just trying to piece out what Babs said last night,” Ted grumbled.  He took a bite of his toast and scratched out a few lines, when Booster suddenly reached over and picked up the notepad.  “Hey, don’t!” Ted said, scrambling over to take it back.  Booster, however, had height advantage- not to mention the ability to fly.  He hovered a few inches above the ground and stuck his tongue out at Ted before turning to look at the notebook.  Toto, thrilled by the morning excitement, jumped at Booster’s heels.

“Ted,” Booster said.  “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

“What do you think it is?” Ted replied, feeling his face begin to flush.  

“I think,” Booster said sternly, “that this is a list of literally every woman you know so that you can systematically evaluate your level of attraction to them.”  He landed back on the apartment floor, and Ted snatched the notepad away.

“It’s just driving me crazy,” he snapped.  “I know this is dumb, but I can’t figure out who the hell she was talking about.”

“That list is gross,” Booster said, sitting back down and ruffling Toto’s ears absently.  “I’m going to tell Bea you wrote down that she was a ‘9/10 but crazy’ and that you think Tora’s ‘foxy but out of bounds’.  Gross, Ted. Gross.”

Ted rested his forehead on the table with a loud ‘thunk’ sound.

“Besides,”  Booster said, sounding impatient, “if you really did like somebody, you’d definitely know who it was.”

“Yeah?,” Ted asked, lifting his head and nibbling on the last of his toast.  “You think Babs was just messing with me?”

“If you were into somebody, you’d know,” Booster insisted.  “This is stupid.  I can’t believe we’re even talking about it.”

Ted sighed in relief and finished off his toast before standing up and grabbing his briefcase.

“Thanks, buddy.  Gotta run in to Kord Industries today for a board meeting.  What are you up to today?” He asked, shrugging on a jacket.

“Monitor duty,” Booster said glumly.  “I’ll see you tonight, I guess.”

Halfway down the apartment stairs, Ted was still mulling over what Babs had said.  Even if Booster was right, and she was just messing with him, she did have a point about him being single.  Maybe it was time to push himself back into the dating scene.  Frankly, Booster’s dog was looking like his best lead.

——————————

The day sped by, despite the best efforts of corporate boredom, and Ted came home to find Booster slumped on the couch and studying the fifty or so take-out menus they had accrued.  Toto was curled up on the floor at his feet.

“Rough day?” Ted asked.  He loosened his tie and picked up one of the menus.

“I’m so tired,” Booster groaned.  “I can’t cook tonight.  Wanna order out?”

“Sure,” Ted said.  “How about you order it, and I’ll take Toto for a w-a-l-k in the meantime?”  Toto’s ears perked at the mention of his name.

“Seriously?” Booster said, looking up from his menu in surprise.  “You’d do that?  Because that would be amazing, Ted.  I’m so tired.”

“Yeah,” Ted said, grinning.  “Not a problem, buddy.  You know what I like to eat, so I trust you to order for me once you pick a place.”

“Don’t forget to put a sweater on Toto,” Booster said, turning back to his pile of pamphlets.  “The sun’s setting, so it’s probably pretty chilly out there.”

Ordinarily, Ted might have complained about this, but he figured the sweater would probably work in his favor when it came to picking up chicks.

———-

Almost an hour later, Ted returned triumphantly to the apartment with an exhausted Toto trailing by his leash in one hand and two (two!) numbers in the other.

“Honey, I’m home,” he called out, kicking his shoes off.  He was in a great mood.  Nothing picked up Ted Kord’s spirits like some successful flirting with beautiful women.  The air was full of the enticing scent of Thai food, and Toto, once unclipped from his leash, darted off to investigate the aroma.

Ted found Booster's handiwork at the table.  He had clearly gone to some amount of effort because the table was set for two, with napkins and silverware all carefully arranged.  The boxes of takeout sat in the middle, still sealed to keep them warm.  

Booster poked his head out from the kitchen, beaming.

“Just getting us some drinks,” he said, cheerfully.  “Beer?”

“Beer,” Ted agreed, sitting down at the table.  “Wow, man. You went all out.”

“I’m just happy that you and Toto are getting along,” Booster said, sitting down across from Ted and sliding him a beer.  “You’ve never offered to take him out by yourself before, even if it was because I was tired.  Thought that deserved a little celebration.”

“Right,” Ted said, beginning to feel more than a little bit guilty about his actual intentions.  “Well, shall we dig in?”  He reached for the nearest take-out container and began scooping some out on his plate.

“I want to hear how it went,” Booster said, cracking open his beer.  “Did Toto behave?  Did he heel properly? Because lately, he’s been kind of tricky with that.”

“He was great,” Ted said faintly.  “Pass the rice?”  Booster did so, frowning.

“Is everything okay, Ted?”

“Well,” Ted said reluctantly, “It’s just… I mean, I was thinking about what Babs said.”

“I thought we were done with that,” Booster said, pursing his lips.  

“Not that part,” Ted said, “but she also asked me if I had been on a date recently.  And I said I hadn’t, and she said why not use Toto to attract some women?”

This was, strictly speaking, not really what Barbara had said at all. 

“Okay,” Booster said slowly, fingers creeping up to tap on the table in what Ted recognized as a warning sign.  It generally meant Booster was holding something in check, be it laughter, anger, tears, or some other emotion.

“So, I thought, why not?” Ted said.  He focused intently on scooping rice onto his plate and not looking Booster in the eyes.  “So that’s why I offered to take Toto out, that’s all.”  He dug into his pocket and presented the two numbers.  “It worked, though. See?”  Ted looked to Booster and was startled to see that he looked crestfallen. 

“Great,” Booster said, his voice hollow.  “Good for you, Ted.  Glad Toto and I could help you with that.”  He stood up from the table, grabbed his box of take-out, and stomped over the the fridge.

“Whoa, wait, what’s going on?” Ted asked in alarm.  “Aren’t you going to eat dinner with me?”

“Not hungry,” Booster said, slamming the fridge door shut.

“Boost,” Ted pleaded, “Did I do something wrong?  I’m sorry.”

“It’s not you, Ted,” Booster snapped, as he headed down the hall to his room.  “It’s me.  I was stupid to think this was going to work, living with you.  I should have known better.”

Booster’s door shut loudly, and then Ted was left sitting at the table with nothing but a plate of Thai food and the soft sounds of Toto’s anxious whines.

———–

Later that night, Ted sulked on the couch watching infomercials on mute and spooning brownie batter ice cream into his mouth, which he had found at the very back of the freezer.  Babs was on speakerphone.

“This sucks,” Ted growled. Toto, who was lying on the floor, watched Ted eat with big brown eyes that pleaded for a share.  “Now I feel bad, like I did something wrong.  Did I do something wrong?”

“You did something insensitive,” Babs said.  “Of course he’d be upset.  He thought you were doing him a favor to be nice, for the sake of being a good friend to him.  Then he found out you were just trying to get some tail.”

“So, this  _is_  my fault,” Ted said miserably, slouching further down into the sofa.  “God, Babs.  I’m a shitty friend.”

“I don’t think that’s the entirety of it,” Babs said.  Ted could hear the faint clacking of her keyboard and tried to imagine what she could be doing.  Running license plate numbers for one of the Bats, probably.  Or hacking into a government database.  “Honestly, Ted, I think you should just try talking to him.  He’s clearly upset about more than just that.”

“I don’t even understand tonight, though,” Ted said, not quite ready to change the subject.  “We used to go out and pick up chicks together all the time.  That was practically the first thing we ever did as friends, like in France.  Why is he suddenly upset now?  Just because he wasn’t there for it?”

“Ted,” Babs said, sounding frustrated.  “I’m going to make this simple for your sake.  And also mine, because it’s not much fun trying to translate an encrypted message at the same time I’m giving life advice.”

“Sorry,” Ted said, around his spoon full of ice cream.

“Don’t apologize. You’re my friend, and I want to help you,” Babs sighed.  “Okay. You remember what I said last night?  About why you weren’t going out on dates?”

“You said it was because I had the hots for someone,” Ted said doubtfully.  “But I’m pretty sure that I-”

“Did it really not occur to you,” Barbara interrupted, “that maybe Booster hasn’t called any of those phone numbers for a similar reason?”

Ted opened and closed his mouth a few times.

“Are you implying what I think you’re implying?” Ted said finally, setting his ice cream down for a moment.

“I’m not implying anything,” Babs said.  “Talk to Booster, Ted.”  And then she hung up.

Ted picked his ice cream back up and quietly scraped the last bits from the sides of the carton with his spoon.  

“Toto,” he said.  “I hope you don’t think you’re going to be sleeping on my bed tonight.”

Toto rolled onto his side and thumped his tail against the floor.

——–

The next morning, Ted got up extra early to take Toto on a walk and then begin preparing breakfast as loudly as possible.  As planned, Booster stumbled into the kitchen about fifteen minutes later, rubbing at his eyes drowsily and then staring down at Ted in confusion.

“Are those… pancakes?” he asked.  Ted grinned and handed him a plate.

“Made with soy milk and the organic blueberries you left in the fridge,” Ted said proudly.  Booster blinked down at his plate, where the blueberries had been carefully arranged in the batter before being cooked.

“5… R… Y?”  He read aloud, squinting.

“It’s supposed to be S-R-Y, like ‘sorry’,” Ted said nervously.  “I didn’t have room for all the letters.”

Booster snickered and walked over to sit down at the dining room table.  Ted followed him with orange juice for both of them.’

“You didn’t have to do this,” Booster said, in between wolfing down bites of pancake.  “I overreacted last night.  It was dumb of me.”

“I think we should talk about it,” Ted said carefully.  “I know we don’t usually do the whole… ‘talk about our feelings’ thing, but I did something to upset you.  I want to know what was wrong.”  

Booster finished off his pancakes in two massive bites and looked away from Ted as he chewed.  Then he reached for his glass of juice and downed the entire contents.

“Yeah,” he said, finally.  “I guess this was going to come out eventually.”  He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.  “Can we do this in the living room?  Sitting at a table feels too much like a mission briefing for me.”

“Sure,” Ted said, bewildered.  “Anything you want.” 

They moved over to the sofa, Ted still holding his own glass of orange juice.  Booster was quiet for a moment and sat staring at the turned off television before he suddenly spoke.

“I should say, first of all,” he said, “that things are different in the future.”

This was a complete curve-ball for Ted, in terms of where he expected the conversation to start, but he nodded for Booster to continue.

“Not just technology or clothes,” Booster elaborated, “but cultural things.  The way people interact, the way families are constructed.”  

“The way people date,” Ted said helpfully, seeing where Booster was going with this.  Booster nodded.  Toto, who had followed them from the dining room, crept closer to Booster and shoved his blocky head under Booster’s hands.

“There’s an overpopulation issue,” Booster said, scratching Toto’s ears.  “So things are way more regulated and controlled.  You’re limited to one marriage license, depending on your income.  Birth control is also a luxury, so a lot of people are on libido suppressants if they’re on a waiting list or something.  And you don’t even want to know about the kind of STD’s you can pick up from intergalactic travel.”

“That sounds terrible,” Ted said, horrified.  “So, there’s no… casual sex? Or dating?”

“I’m not going to say it doesn’t happen at all,” Booster said.  “Licensed prostitutes are granted birth control by the government, so there are options.  But in terms of dating?  Most people will court for years before really committing themselves to any one person.”

“Is that why you…?” Ted began, before immediately chickening out.  Booster sighed, digging his fingers into Toto’s fur.

“Yeah,” Booster said.  “I mean, it started without me even noticing.  But then we moved in, and I just…. It was so easy to pretend like that was what we were doing.”

“So you were ‘courting’ me this whole time, and I didn’t even notice?” Ted said, shakily.  “I don’t understand.”

“It wouldn’t have looked any different to you than friendship,” Booster started to say, but Ted interrupted him.

“No, Boost, I mean…. Why  _me_?”

Booster’s head shot up, and he stared at Ted for the first time in their conversation.

“ _Why you?_ ” He repeated, looking taken aback.  “Ted, you’re amazing.  You’re brilliant and kind, and you make me laugh more than anybody else in the world.  You’re gorgeous, even if you think you aren’t.  It couldn’t have been anybody  _but_  you, Ted.”

Blood rushed into Ted’s face so quickly that he could hear his pulse pounding in his ears.

“Wow,” he said, licking his lips and laughing nervously.  “Okay.  I wish compliments like that had been part of the courting, holy shit.”

Booster was silent, tilting his head and searching Ted’s face with his eyes.  He looked hopeful, Ted realized.  Hopeful that maybe…

Ted cleared his throat.

“This is going to sound crazy coming from me,” Ted said.  “Especially after last night, but.  Can I kiss you?”

“What?” Booster asked in disbelief, and then, uncertain: “Do you… Do you want to?”

“I kind of really do,” Ted admitted, and he leaned in to kiss Booster gently on the lips.

Booster’s lips were soft and warm and tasted mildly of chapstick.  Ted could feel Booster’s breath stuttering against his own mouth, and then Booster was kissing him back just as slow and careful.  Ted was dimly aware of Booster’s long eyelashes brushing against his own face and the friction of morning stubble between the two of them.

Booster made a warm, happy sound and sucked Ted’s lower lip into his mouth, and suddenly Ted could taste orange juice.  It was all too much.  He pulled back from the kiss, shivering so hard that he was sure Booster could see it.  He buried his face in the hollow between Booster’s neck and shoulder, suddenly embarrassed.

“How are you feeling?” Booster asked quietly.  

“Terrified,” Ted croaked, wanting to be honest.  “Confused.  So happy I can’t even believe it.”  Booster laughed and Ted was so close he could practically hear the sound bubbling up from inside him.  “Booster?” Ted said.  “Is it okay if we go slow?  Like, really slow?  Like, junior-high-girlfriend-that-you’re-afraid-to-hold-hands-with slow?”

“I’ve been courting you this long,” Booster said, with another laugh.  “I think I can handle that.”

“Good,” Ted said, and then added, “Not to contradict myself with the whole “slow” thing, but do you want to maybe go take a nap?  I slept like shit last night.”

“Sounds great,” Booster said.  They got up, exchanging shy smiles with one another, and headed back to Booster’s room.  Ted flopped on top of the sheets, and Booster curled up next to him, one arm draped over Ted’s stomach.

Ted’s eyes were closed, and he was almost asleep when Booster murmured that he could hear Toto hopping onto Ted’s bed across the hall.

“He can have that bed from now on,” Ted grumbled and fell blissfully asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first ever multi-chapter fic, so I just want to thank everybody that left comments and kudos! It was great motivation to keep going. <3


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